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Shakira headlines fairly normal World Cup closing ceremony
After the Pitbull-infused rampage that was the 2014 World Cup opening ceremony, the last
thing we expected was a fairly normal and straightforward closing show on Sunday in Rio de Janeiro.
Shakira took her rightful place as the songstress of the World Cup, headlining a closing ceremony
that was fairly normal in its execution and style. In other words, no vegetables were
harmed in the making of this ceremony.
The Colombian singer, beloved for her pitch-perfect 2010 World Cup anthem, was at the centre of
a campaign to instill her new song as the official anthem of Brazil, and not the Pitbull,
Jennifer Lopez, and Claudia Leitte (for 14 seconds) shout-a-thon.
Shakira opened the ceremony with that very number, belting out "La La La" with Carlinhos
Brown at the centre of the Maracana while dancers shimmied about around her.
Other performers included Wyclef Jean, Carlos Santana, Alexandre Pires, and Ivete Sangalo.
Shakira, whose 2010 FIFA World Cup official song "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)" became
the biggest-selling World Cup song of all time and eighth most-watched video on YouTube
"For all of those reasons I just feel so grateful for the opportunity to come back to perform
at the Closing Ceremony of this year'sĀ FIFA World Cup in Brazil, it feels right. The fans
have shown the most incredible support for this song and I can't wait to perform it for them."
Interestingly, Shakira's song, "La La La (Brazil 2014)" is more popular than the official song
"We Are One (Ole Ola)". It has been on Billboard's Hot 100 chart for six weeks, peaking at No.
53 in June before dropping to 60-77 this week, while "We Are One" peaked at No. 59 and currently
ranked at No. 90, according to Billboard.